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Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 0-9| A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M | | N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z| Below are some recently posted reviews.  RSS Feed
VELVET TEEN, THE:
Immortality: 7"
Lured by the purty picture disk, I was punished by listening to something that, by comparison, made the Carpenters sound as heavy as Slayer or Enya as fast as Bad Brains. Even if I were a fourteen-year-old girl wearing nothing but a Slinky, I’d still think I could kick all these guys asses and bitch slap ‘em with their own arms, but they’d probably start playing and I’d fall asleep. Fuck you all, you triangle-tinkling Tylenol PM of a band. I’ve read children’s stories more threatening.
–Todd Taylor (Pandacide)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Ramones Forever: CD
An international compilation wherein bands from all over the map mangle Ramones songs. Most of the tracks blow sheep (unless techno versions of “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Psychotherapy” are your cup of tea), and the remainder leave little doubt that Belgium should be wiped off the face of the earth. As far as “tributes” go, maybe they should’ve just walked up to the remaining Ramones and kick each of ‘em square in the balls. That would’ve been much less painful than having one’s name attached to this abomination. Oh, wait, Marky was involved in this. Guess he really, really needed the money.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Radical)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Power of Ten: EP
A piece of the current Northwest hardcore scene is captured here. All bases covered from the more metallic side like Himsa, Left With Nothing, Contingent, to the more traditional sound of Spitting Teeth, and on to bands like Stay Gold, The Entropy Project, To See You Broken, The November Group, Screwjack, and Positively Negative, who are carving their own niches in hardcore. All in all, a pretty good comp.
–Matt Average (1-2-3-4 Go!!!)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
No One Left to Blame: Twenty American Punk Unknowns ‘76-’82: LP
Yet another one of those Killed by Death-ish comps. This time around, the best stuff here is from (surprise!) my hometown of Milwaukee! The Prosecutors do a great, chaotic song not too far from the Replacements in sound! All right! There’s also Antler Joe and the Accidents with “Dogshit,” one of the more ridiculous songs I’ve heard lately. The rest of this album is pretty much take it or leave it, unless you’re a record collector. LOTS of bands that sound like either the Sex Pistols or the New York Dolls. LOTS of bands with fake British accents. If this were a cereal, it’d be one of those variety packs with lots of mediocre cereals from long ago that, sadly, the cereal execs were correct in discontinuing. Wow. Metaphor overload.
–Maddy (Not listed)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Nearvana: CD
Oh, hey, look – it’s a Nirvana covers CD. Nirvana completists will probably want this. If you want mine, drive over to the front of my place and honk – I’ll come out and throw it at you (not TO you – AT you). Why? Because you wasted some high-priced gasoline to drive over here for nothing, except for a jewelcase-sized dent on the side of your vehicle. Shame on you for even considering it.
–Designated Dale (Tinnitus)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Home on the Range Volume 1: CD
A Midwest comp with twelve more bands that ain’t worth the trouble it took to listen to ‘em. Apparently limited to 1,000, which is about the best thing I can say about this.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Bingo Lady Record Collective)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Greeting: CD
Sampler from the Lobster Records roster. Represented here are Staring Back, Yellowcard, Mock Orange, Buck Wild, Park, Whippersnapper, Yellowcard, Joystick and Jargon. Kinda like the minor league team for Fat or Epitaph. Give it a chance and see if you like any of the bands if you are into melodicore.
–Donofthedead (Lobster)
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SOUTH FILTHY:
Soul of a Man: 7”
I’m not quite sure what it
is, but the last couple of years, when I feel completely depleted, I’ve been
going to roots that I’ve never listened to before. Johnny Cash, Otis Redding,
and, recently, Leadbelly. South Filthy take on a Blind Willie Johnson song, the
title track, and I’m not going to lie to you. I know dick-all about Mr.
Johnson, but I sure like South Filthy’s interpretation of his song. It’s slow blood
pumping, weight of the world in your exhale, steadfast stuff that I can
appreciate when I want something slow without being light and sleepy. The
B-side, “Speed Traps, Weigh Stations & Detour Signs,” a Dave Dudley song
off of the Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun LP and shows that the South Filthy can switch gears without losing any
speed. It’s got a nice “when the CB was king,” convoy feel. Not terribly far
off the original, but it retains a faithful, beaten leather feel its own. Nice
change of pace.
–Todd Taylor (Wrecked ‘Em)
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SOLGER:
Codex 1980: CD
The only
document you’re likely to hear of Seattle’s first true hardcore band, who
existed for a mere six months in 1980, played six shows, recorded an
ultra-rare, ultra-lo-fi 7-inch masterpiece, summarily threw in the towel, and
guitarist Paul went on to join the Fartz. Thanks to record collector interest
in the aforementioned 7-inch, Empty has released this retrospective. Collected
here are remixes of the tracks from the EP, six live cuts, and original mixes –
straight from the vinyl – in all their miserable sounding glory to appease
purists. A must-have for any northwest music historians, not to mention those
who like their music loud, raw and totally fucked up.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Empty)
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SOVIETTES, THE/ THE HAVENOT’S:
Split 7” : EP
Yes, the
Soviettes are on the cover. Yes, there’s a long interview in this issue, and
man, I couldn’t be happier. Their two offerings are as great as anything that
they’ve released. With the crazy powerful and assured triple vocals on “30 Min
or Less,” how every instrument not only locks into another, but propels the
entire mission, I think, “So, this is what the Go Go’s would have sounded with
a dude drummer if Our Lips Are Sealed didn’t get such a thoroughly poppy mix. Rad.” Quite possibly one of the
world’s funnest riots on wax. Confetti and defiance. The Havenot’s: They’d be
perfect on a bill with Water Closet or The Urchin. They’ve got that mid-paced,
“They’re Japanese. Are they speaking English? Yes. They’re really saying ‘the
Boys are back to street’” thing down. It’s crunchy and Japanese-clean, but
their proficiency doesn’t overshadow some cool songwriting flourishes and
finger snapping dynamics that wouldn’t leave fans of the Replacements cold.
Good job, great split.
–Todd Taylor (Nice and Neat)
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SOLEA:
Even Stranger: CD EP
Ex-members of
… Knapsack … Texas Is The Reason … and Samiam … gather … to make five songs. So
why does this sound like such a shitty rip-off of Sunday’s Best? Fuck Solea. If
any of this sounds remotely interesting, check out The Jealous Sound.
–Puckett (3 Mileage)
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SNOT ROCKETS, THE:
Bankrupt: CD
A competent,
but mostly unmemorable, punk rock band that deserves a rousing “hell yeah!” for
the diatribe on the illegality of American currency that comprises the center
of the CD’s booklet.
–Jimmy Alvarado (www.thesnotrockets.com)
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SLOW SLUSHY BOYS, LES:
Slush Puppy: 7”
A couple of instrumentals
heavy on ‘60s kitsch. Both songs on this would’ve been big hits with Cissy and
her friends had Family Affair been a reality show.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Butterfly)
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SLICK SHOES:
Far from Nowhere: CD
The way the punk music
scene is today, it’s fragmented in sub-scenes that don’t interrelate. I
remember back in my glory days, I would meet new friends at every show. I go to
shows now and I’m just the non-fashionable old guy. Over this rant, I say that
I will probably never really cross paths with this band. They are already on
the Warped tour and I see MTV following behind. Just as there are demographics
in everything else, I see this band falling into the 14-18 demographic: aural
cheesy pleasure disguised as rebellion for the younger set. Color in the
numbers punk rock to some fame and fortune. This is a band that can lure the
youth into the darker, serious side of punk. Because there is always the small
few who want more rebellion and more thought for their entertainment. Those
people will crossover and continue the more underground movement of the punk
scene. So, I believe both sides have a purpose. But being on the darker side, this
music sounds so homogenized that I feel lactose intolerant and I feel a wet
shit coming down the tubes.
–Donofthedead (Side One Dummy)
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SLEAZIES, THE:
Gonna Operate on Myself: 7”
Gotta hand it to Rapid
Pulse, they sure know how to pick ‘em. Snuck a peek at the lyric sheet before
putting this on the turntable and cringed at the silliness of the lyrics. Soon
as the needle hit the groove, however, all my fears regarding what I was about
to endure dissipated. Both tracks here are sweet sounding punk with more than
just a nod toward the band’s ‘70s predecessors, particularly the Gears. Okay,
I’m hooked and awaiting my next fix, preferably a full-length.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Rapid Pulse)
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SKALINERS, THE:
Belly Dance: CD
Ska band from Germany that
is good musically, but the singer’s tone rubs me like red fire ants between my
toes. Maybe if they sang in German instead of English it would be much better
to these ears.
–Donofthedead (Mad Butcher)
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SIXTH CHAMBER, THE:
Molded Truths: CD
The only progeny I know to
have sprung from the Christian Death camp (Sevan Kand is the son of later
members Gitane Demone and Valor Kand) teams up with Urinals/100 Flowers member
Kjel Johansen, and Rahne Pistor, who may or may not be the guy who was in one
of the more recent incarnations of the Undead. The resulting music comes off as
a weird hybrid of early death rock (before it became “goth” and subsequently
lost all credibility) and no wave, making for some interesting tuneage, indeed.
Much respect to these guys for opting to stand out from the rest of the pack.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Novokkane Noise)
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SILK FLOWERS:
Not Worth Mentioning: 7”
Sort of like how
members of Hot Water Music let their country music influence shine through as
Rumbleseat, members of the Starvations are moonlighting as Silk Flowers. Some
of the same ingredients are there: the wailing vocals, the lyrics full of
despair, and the fact the songs aren’t grossly exaggerated caricatures. The
music, however, is a different story. The Gun Club/Birthday Party influence has
been filtered out, leaving a bare-boned, acoustic country sound that is no less
haunting than the music of the Starvations. Fantastic. –Not Josh
–Guest Contributor (Postneo Music, no address)
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SIGNAL TO TRUST:
Folklore: CD
This band is
from Minnesota and features x-members of The Misfires, Sicbay and The Hidden
Chord. First things first. I adore the sleeve art. It’s very poppish and looks
like something Jet Set would be releasing instead. It’s got a bizarre ‘60s feel
to it with bright colors and deer versus wolves, but fuck, man, the inner
artwork is this mess of grids with the lyrics scrawled over them. It makes me
dizzy. That is not good. Musically, it’s just like the Faraquet (R.I.P.)
b-sides or something. Tight, tasty and enjoyable, but listening to it makes me
want to listen to Faraquet and not Signal To Trust. Big whammy.
–Sarah Shay (Modern Radio)
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SICKIDS:
Now and Then: CD
A now and then overview
(hence the title) of an ‘80s band from Philly that have apparently decided to
give it another go two decades later. Tempos here range from mid-speed to
sludgy and there’s a HEAVY Cramps influence throughout.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Steel Cage)
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SHOCKS, THE:
More Cuts for You in Zero 2: CD
A German punk
rock band up to its eyeballs in Killed By Death worship. Features that twangy,
non-distorted guitar sound that gets the trash-punkers’ trousers all sticky.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Dirty Faces)
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SHOCKER, THE:
Up Your Ass Tray: CDEP
Former L7 member, Jennifer
Finch, groups up some people and creates a new band. It’s very much in the same
vein of L7 and musically has elements of punk and Joan Jett. I remember young
Jennifer and L7 opening up for my punk band that was headlined by St. Vitus in
a shitty Hollywood club on a Wednesday or Thursday night. They played a rocking
set for a band that was new. We went through our set. It had songs, at the
time, that were almost ten years old mixed with current ones. They were right
out front and rocked out to our set. We had a singer people hated, so it was
great seeing people enjoy what we were doing. We made no money that night. But
I do remember L7 enjoying our music. On this disc, I drew close to the cover
song. The band covers the Juice Newton (Fuck you, Dale. It’s not Kim Carnes!)
hit “Angel of the Morning.” It takes a certain voice to carry that song and the
band backs it up. Other songs that I dug were “Smoke Rings,” “Break in Two,”
“Your Problem Now,” and “Bad Brain Good Head.” Rocking punk’n’roll that should
be burning though the club scene soon after their stint on the Warped Tour.
–Donofthedead (Little Pusher)
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SHEMPS, THE/ TO HELL AND BACK:
Split : 7”
The Shemps:
Like a fawn getting its legs, stumbling out of the placental sac, and then
learning how to wield a chainsaw, The Shemps started out in the world as mild
mannered and have quickly evolved into a ripping unit. Parts pop, parts life of
the party, part solid rock’n’roll mystery, I’d put them in league with The
Stupor Stars. Nothing’s missing, and Artie’s vocal snot ratchets the
proceedings up a couple notches. Plus, if you put “Suzie Werner played guitar
on this recording, got arrested on tour, and quit the band a month later as a
condition of her parole. Good luck Suzie!” in your liner notes, you know you’re
dealing with a band that tests the edge of the blade. To Hell and Back: With
ex-members of Devoid of Faith and John Brown’s Army, I was expecting more,
uhhh, hardcore than a slowed down Zeke. I fall on the side of the pyramid that
got their ass kicked while heavy metal got played on swung-open monster truck
stereos in the parking lot in high school and those scars still haven’t healed,
no matter how progressive. I’ve just recently embraced Motorhead and AC/DC as
part of my rehabilitative therapy, but this it too much of a step. Sorry. Go
Shemps!
–Todd Taylor (Gloom)
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SCUMBAG ROADS:
Bad Girl Attraction: 10”
...one of the
things that i find wholly unsatisfying regarding the majority of European punk
rock (especially the stuff that might be seen as having descended in some way,
shape or form from the Ramones, regardless of how nth-generation the bloodlines
run) is that once The Punk Rock has made its initial mutation – has staked out
its defining deviance from the norm, or what have you – it very rarely mutates
further. Once a band sounds like what it sounds like, it sounds like that
forever, or until they “progress,” which is different from mutation. Bands will
be FAST and LOUD and PUNK, yet an entire set can pass by without the band ever
finding some virgin cubic millimeter of your brain that hasn’t yet been
trampled by rock ‘n’ roll – some tiny cluster of heretofore unused synapses,
ripe for the pickin’ – and jabbing their own little pushpin in there, marking
their turf forever and ever, or until you forget. I just never feel like a lot
of the bands establish much of an identity above and beyond the identity
they’ve established merely as a precondition to their existing; like, once the
initial sonic character of the music is there, everything else could just be
plotted out by some manner of punk rock algorithm. Of course, i freely admit
that there may well be things in the music that i’m not picking up on, but i’m
gonna give myself the benefit of the doubt and write that off as idle
speculation right now. That said, about two-twelfths of this record is genius –
and, of course, those twelfths would also be the two stupidest songs, “Deadly
Potion” and “Dirt.” The other ten-twelfths blaze along in a quite pleasant punk
rock fireball, with the blaring guitar assault upon my eardrums feeling as nice
as the hot water in the shower does when i’ve finally coaxed myself out of bed
in the morning. However, sorta like the shower, the feeling only lasts ‘til the
towel. Rocks hard, but debatably non-essential. BEST SONG: I already told you
this, it’s either “Dirt” or “Deadly Potion.” Now, since you made me repeat
myself, i will tell you the BEST LYRIC: “I grab my giant noodle/pissing on the
whole kaboodle” BEST SONG TITLE: Well, “Smash It Up,” “Dirt,” “I Don’t Like
You” and “Yeah Yeah” are all pretty good... too bad they’re already taken. I
guess i vote for “Bad Girl Attraction,” contingent on it being some sort of pun
on “Bad Guy Reaction.” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: Guitar player Andi Scum
was (is?) in the Returners. The Wag!!! The Wag!!! THHHHEEEE WAAGGGGGGGG!!!
–Rev. Norb (Swindlebra)
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SCARLET LETTER, THE:
Scattered, Smothered and Covered: The Collected Letters: CD
A weird
melding of metal, emo and hyperspeed hardcore here. I appreciate the effort to
fuck with boundaries a bit and search for something new in the resulting mess,
but the end product here didn’t really do much for me.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Hater of God)
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